Pouring nozzle



March 12, 1940. (:ANTONl 2,193,365

POURING NOZZLE Filed Feb. 10, 1938 I'NVENTOR Rene Can-l oni PatentedMar. 12, 1940 POUBJNG'NOZZLE Rene Cantoni, Uglne, France, assignor toSocit dElectrochimie, dElectromtallnrgle et des Acieries ElectriquesdUgine, Paris, France, a

corporation of France Application February 10,1938. Serial No. 189,801

. 1 In France March 31, 1937 1 claim. (or. cast) The cooling of a fusedm'etal while it is flowing by gravity from a receptacle, furnace orladle through a pouring orifice formed by a nozzle, and

the variation of the height of the metal above this orifice, give riseto variations in the conditions of casting in an unfavourable manner andoften give rise to surface or internal defects of the cast ingots orpieces.

To avoid these'disadvantages the section of the pouring nozzle placed inthe pouring orifice has been varied, during the course itself of thecasting.

The processes most utilized consist either in constituting the nozzle ofa material which is attacked by the metal during and in proportion tothe casting which ensures an automatically increasing flow section, orin adjoining to the normal nozzle an. auxiliary nozzle .of smallersection which can be taken off during the pouring or replaced by anothernozzle having a greater section. f

The first process has the defect of not being regulatable. Thedifficulty will in fact be understood which there is in defining thecomposition and the physical state of the constituents of a nozzle whichshould be corroded in a regular way by .the metal. Moreover, thisprocess assumes that the temperature of-the metal remains constant fromone casting to, another. When in fact it is otherwise, the nozzle whichis more attached 'by hot metal than by a cold metal enlarges morequickly the hotter the metal a result .which is the converse of thatwhich is required. Now in practice the castings of metal have not allthe same temperature, and this process, however simple it may-be, mustnone'the less b'e rejected. I

The Batty process abovereferredto has not these disadvantages; it.isrational and adjustable but it 4 necessitates a. mechanical devicewhich however simple is still too complicated v during casting in aregular manner from. one

casting to another and also permitting to adapt from the beginning ofthe casting, the section of the nozzle to the temperature 'of the metal.Thanks to these means it is also possible, in case the casting -orificeis obturated, to instantaneously re-establish the casting.

These means consist on the one hand informing the nozzle of a refractorymaterial possessing' a sufliciently high mechanical resistance to beable to resist the forces which a nozzle will normally have towithstand, but nevertheless .sufllciently weak so that it is possible tosection; .the nozzle at desired points and on the other hand inimparting to this nozzle a variable section narrowing towards the bottomand a length such that by sectioning or breaking the nozzle andshortening it, increasing flow sections'are offered tothe metal. Bysectioning the nozzle it should be understood as well a sectioningobtained .by a cutting action'as by a breaking action.

I The flow channel of the nozzle is for this-pur pose formed either of asuccession of cylindrical .or substantially cylindrical parts whosesections channel narrowing towards the outlet of the nozzle. I p

Zones of lower resistance are if desired created by notches or circulargrooves so as to facilitate the sectioning of the nozzle at determinedpoints.

To utilize the nozzle according to the invention it is sectioned at thedesired point to obtain thepouring orifice of desired dimensions, forexample by employing a cutting member at that level of the nozzle whichcomprises the fiow' section which it is desired to obtain.

The process and the apparatus are as seen very-simple; .no mechanicaldevice is necessary. In practice within the limit of dimensions of thenozzle the flow section may be regulated as desired; The shortening maytake place in one or several stages according as to whether one has useof one or more than two sections. One may thus compensate readily andregularly the variations of temperature and pressure which are exhibitedduring the same cast, this being done by shortening the nozzle by thequantity which corresponds to the new section necessary at theconsidered moment. The variations of temperature of the metal from onecast to another can also be compensated in use forsuch castingsmadeunder variable initial conditions of temperature. identical nozzleswhich have been previously cut at dilferent lengths corresponding eachto the saidtemperature. By means of such a nozzle it is also possibleto: reestablish the outflow of the I In any case, the operation ofmodification of sections takes place in a few seconds. i

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichFigures 1-4 are in their left halves diametrical sections and in theirright halves outside elevations of four diflerent forms of nozzle;Figure 5 shows on a smaller scale a pair of shears for sectioning thenozzle.

In the form of construction of Figure 1, the nozzle comprises in theordinary way a head I extended by a limb .2 but instead of this limbbeing short as is ordinarily the case it is extended to 3 and itsinterior channel 4 diminishes in section from above to below. Bysectioning the limb of the nozzle for example along the planes A-B, 3-3,the minimum section oflered to the passage of the metal is varied bycreating besides the initial section s1 larger sections such as s2, ea.

In Figure 2 is shown a similar nozzle but which comprises grooves 5, 6,I facilitating sectioning corresponding with predetermined pouringsections s2, s3, $4.

In the embodiment of Figure 3, the limb 2 of the nozzle is representedshorter than in Figures 1 and 2. The channel 4 of section 82 comprises anarrowed portion 8 of section s1. Above this section 31 the limb 2 ofthe nozzle is notched by a circular groove 9. By cutting off the nozzleat the height of this groove the flow section passes from s1 to .92.

In Figure 4 which corresponds to a nozzle of the same kind as that ofFigure 3, the limb 2 of the nozzle is more elongated and there are twoconstrictions Ill and H in the flow channel and two grooves l2 and I3.The casting being commenced with the section's1, the nozzle isafterwards cut during the casting, at I! to obtain the section 82 andthen at l3 to obtain the section ss.

Instead of grooves one may-provide notches for starting breaking such asthose shown at a and b of Figure 1. Wherever the word groove is used inthe present specification and in the appended claim a notch is meant aswell.

To produce sectioning there will be used for example a pair of shearssuch as that shown in Figure 5, comprising two handle members I4 and I5,pivoted at I6 and two blades l1 and I8 with which the limb of the nozzlewill be cut at the desired level.

In the case of a nozzle of the type of Figure 3, one may simply breakthe lower part of the limb by a blow with an iron bar, given below thegroove 9.

With the object of avoiding any disturbance in pouring as a consequenceof an accidental cracking produced in the body of the nozzle, the rings,such as I 9, which bound the grooves, may advantageously be providedwith a collar.

As material for the formation of the nozzle there may be utilised inparticular that called graphite in commerce and which is formed of amixture of carbon and clay.

In the appended claim when reference is made to a channel, successivesections of which increase from the outlet to the inlet, it should beunderstood that such an expression designates not only sectionssuccessively and regularly increasing so as to confer to the channel afrusto conical or substantially frusto-conical shape, but

also sections increasing in the shape of successive Zcylindrical orsubstantially cylindrical portions,

as hereabove described in relation with Figures 1 to 4.

\It should be also understood that when reference is made to a nozzlehaving a section of less resistance, that such an expression designatesa nozzle provided with one section of less resistance or with aplurality of such sections. In particular, in the case of a nozzle inwhich the channel is formed of successive cylindrical portions ofincreasing transverse areas from the outlet to the inlet, the said piecemay have a plurality of such cylindrical sections. It should also beunderstood that the said section of less resistance may be constitutedby any suitable means and in particular by means of an outer groove.

It should be lastly understoodthat when reference is made to shorteninga channel during the casting of the metal, that this operation can bemade once, or if necessary, several times during the one and the samecasting.

What I claim is:

A nozzle for casting molten metal from a receptacle, comprising a singleunitary refractory structure including a head adapted to fit within thereceptacle and an extension extending a considerable distance below thereceptacle, said extension provided with a longitudinal flow channelsuccessive cross sections of which increase from the outlet to the inletthereof, said extension having a weakening groove or notch at at leastone point of its length corresponding to an increased channel crosssection as compared 'with the channel cross sectiomat its outlet,whereby the extension may be readily broken at said weakening groove ornotch to provide an increased flow of molten metal.

RENE CANTONI.

